Monty Python moment at Sherwin-Williams

Not exactly. It describes the U.S. consumer, at least according to paint maker Sherwin-Williams.

Sending a signal that shoppers haven’t completely put their wallets away, the maker of well-known paint brands such as Dutch Boy, Minwax and Krylon on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings that topped expectations. It also painted a bullish outlook for the rest of the year.

The news helped make Sherwin-Williams one of the day’s best-performing stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index as the shares rose 4.2% to $210.13 in early afternoon trading (SHW).

Sherwin-Williams said second-quarter earnings rose almost 20% on the strength of higher paint sales. The company earned $291.4 million, or $2.94 a share, up from $257.3 million, or $2.46, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, the company earned 10 cents a share more than expected, according to Zacks Equity Research. Sherwin-Williams also raised its guidance for full-year 2014 earnings to $8.50-$8.70 a share. That’s up from the previous $8.12-$8.32 range and is above the $8.42 a share Zacks now predicts for 2014.

Paint sales at stores open at least a year rose 9.8% in the second quarter, and overall paint revenue gained 17%.

The robust results bucked a recent trend in which retailers such as Container Store and Family Dollar Stores said fewer shoppers than hoped were walking their aisles. In the case of the Container Store, CEO Kip Tindell went as far as to say that his company, like many other retailers, was “experiencing a retail funk.”

Remember, the health of the retailing business is important to a lot more than just the retailers themselves: Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.